


The First Summer

by JackieRobinson



Series: The Thousand Mile Journey [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!, ダイヤのA | Daiya no A | Ace of Diamond
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Sports, Team Bonding, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23532787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackieRobinson/pseuds/JackieRobinson
Summary: They all came looking for something; a baseball club, a big break, a second chance, a chance to make a statement, a job,or simply a place to hide. It doesn't matter what it was they all came looking for something, and none of them found exactly what they wanted. Who would have thought that not finding what they were looking for would give them all more than they wanted.
Series: The Thousand Mile Journey [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1693504
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	1. The First Step

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Diamond no Ace, Haikyuu, or Okiku Furikabutte/ Big Windup. The only characters that I have any say in the usage of are the few OCs included in the story. Please support each of the two products official releases.
> 
> "Hi": Speaking
> 
> 'Hi': Thinking
> 
> "Hi": Yelling/Intro
> 
> "Hi": Flashback/ Singing
> 
> Author's Note: Hello everybody sorry for the delay. I just wanted to let you all know that I intend to publish at least one chapter every month, and trust me the chapters will soon be getting longer. I hope that by doing this I can prevent the story line of the fic from getting all messed up due to rushed updates.
> 
> Thank you for electing to read this newest chapter and I hope you all enjoy.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> JackieRobinson

Chapter 1

There's something absolutely beautiful about summer in Japan. Perhaps its the sometimes oppressively hot weather and the ice treats it brings, maybe its the promise of a beautiful summer vacation, maybe its the sight of the Cherry blossoms reaching their last days of bloom before their succulent fruit appears. It could be one of many things, however, one thing that is undeniably critical to the development of a truly Japanese summer has got to be baseball.

Little League baseball, Middle School baseball, High School baseball, College baseball, Professional baseball, International baseball. Doesn't matter what level it is, doesn't matter where it's played, doesn't matter whose playing it. It's an undeniable fact that there can be no summer in Japan without some degree of baseball participation, the sport and the country are more or less one and the same. With players either being scouted by schools or scouting schools across the entirety of the large archipelago, no one in the sport could escape its national value and no one in the country could escape the sport.

While this whole affair is truly a sight to behold it's an even better one to participate in, even if a player's participation doesn't make it past the earliest rounds of their prefectural tournament. It wasn't one familiar for the average student attending Karasuno high school in Saitama Prefecture, it was not an experience that they was destine to have. At least not yet.

"Sucks, honestly" I muttered as I leaned against the exterior of one of the gyms that was in the center of the school's complex

"It's not fair, how on earth did we manage to get into the one high school in the whole prefecture that doesn't have a baseball club?" a voice behind me loudly cried, causing me to turn my head to see my friend, and former fellow baseball player, Sawamura Eijun sitting next me. A particularly strong fire in his eyes as he firmly gripping the hair on his head whilst he firmly ground his teeth.

'I think it's more outlandish that you managed to get into this school' I thought, as I raised my feet against the base of my desk to steady my position. It would be easy for one to assume that my thought came from Sawamura's struggles with consistently studying, remembering information, or not getting distracted whilst in class; however that's not it all. Simply put Karasuno high school was without a doubt one of the academically reputable public schools in the whole of the Saitama prefecture, with most of the school's funding going towards the tenuring of the best teaching staff available to a Japanese public school and most of its prequisits rivaling those of academicly reknowned private schools.

"You should be thankful that you were able to get in period" I countered, folding my arms in an uninterested manner before adding.

"Especially with that whole private school assignment falling through" causing the frustrated look on Sawamura's face suddenly become extremely irritated.

"How was I supposed to know they'd 'find a better candidate'" he thundered back, to which I simply shrugged before returning to my chair to its previous position; having obviously touched a nerve.

'Of course I'd be frustrated too if I lost the chance to get a full scholarship to play baseball at one of the best private schools in the prefecutre that almost always makes it to the Koshien, but at least by studying for their entrance exams made it easy to get into this school' I thought as I glanced to my right and caught sight of a short, orange haired boy walking towards one of the large gym buildings. Noting that unlike the majority of students I'd encountered so far at this school, he looked somewhat familiar.

'Where have I seen you before?'

"We should for a baseball club on our own" Sawamura declared in what could only be described as a wildly optomisitic tone.

"Yeah, I'm sure all two of us will be able to make a great case for the school to give us a club room and equipment" I replied, sarcasm lacing my tone as I did so.

"Well then how are we gonna keep playing baseball?" Sawamura asked in a loud panicked voice. His very important question somehow not managing to dent what seemed to be the most pressing question at the front of my mind.

'I know I've seen that kid somewhere before, why can't I remember where'. As I proceeded to turn and walk towards the entrance to the gym that I'd seen the orangette disappear into, cracking the wiondow open to get a look inside, much to Sawamura's frustration.

"Where are you going?"

"Shh! Listen" I ordered before hearing the brief pitter patter of feet and feeling a hand pressed firmly into the center of my back, forcing me to go from my squatting to a kneeling position as the two of us peered into the gym. Allowing me to see that the small orangette was now standing in front of a taller individual, who was most likely the leader of the club.

"So you want to join us?" the man asked, revealing him to have a deepish voice that sported a skeptical tone.

"Y-yes, I would, I have the application all filled out" the orangette responded, before bowing his head and somehow managing to look even smaller than he already did in comparisson to the man in front of him.

"It would mean a lot-"

"I'm sorry, but we're not interested" the man abruptly stated, causing the young orangette to snap his head up.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, but we're not interested" the man repeated, causing the far smaller boy to begin looking both left and right suddenly

"What's he looking at?" Sawamura asked as he began pressing his elbow into my back, causing me to grunt in discomfort.

"Maybe if you're quiet we'll know," I answered, before jerking my elbow back suddenly and adding.

"And get your elbow out of my spine".

"As you probably know the Karasuno Volleyball Club is one of the best in Saitama, we've gone from being a contender to a staple of the prefectural tournament" the man stated, in a cold tone.

"Yes I know, that's why I want to join so that I can get-" the smaller boy began.

"However, if we want to truly cement our rise we cannot remain staples of the prefecutral tournament, we need to break into and become house hold names at the inter-high tournaments which means we means we can only take on plays that can be calculated to get us there" the larger man cutoff before adding.

"And I do not believe that you would be able to aid us in that goal, regardless as to how much better you get". The resulting reaction from the young boy, or more specifically lack there of, was as stunning as it was absolute. Even when listening to the older man, who must've been the team's coach or supervisor, the boy was constantly moving around and fidgeting like he had a spider in his pants. However, the moment that he heard those words come from the man's mouth he went still as a stick and as silent as a stone.

"What a jerk" a hushed voice whispered, causing me to look up and only then realize they'd come from Sawamura's mouth.

'You said it'

"B-but I don't understand" the orangette stuttered, as the man simply proceeded to hand him back his application form.

"I'm sorry, but I do believe it would be a waste of both of our times to placing you on the team if I have no intention of using you," the man answered before adding.

"If you really want to help our team then you will consider it wise to apply elsewhere, I'm sorry". With that the man proceeded to walk to another part of the gymnasium and begin coaching several of the volleyball players, while the young boy stood still in the gym for a few seconds. Before silently trudging out of the gymnasium and passing the two of us as he exited the gym, not saying a word to either of us as he did so.

"Do you think we should talk to him?"

"I don't know Sawamura, what would you want if you had someone shoot down your dream of playing high school baseball" I responded in a sarcastic tone, an answer that prompted him to look me square in the eye before stating.

"Start a baseball club"

'You have a baseball for a brain' was the only thing that could come to my mind, that was until I look the tiny orangette over again and felt Sawamura's statement click into place in my head. The answer to our problem, and possibly his as well, was so simple. The three of us would simply need to go around and look to see if anyone was interested in joining baseball club, the prospect wasn't that outlandish. After all, there had to be at least six other people who had tried and failed to join one of the more successful or popular sports clubs around the campus .

"Excuse me" I called out, causing the boy to notice our hiding spot as he turned around towards us before asking.

"What?" in a somber tone.

"I couldn't help but over hear your conversation with that guy from the volleyball team, my friend and I were looking to apply too," I began, making sure to elbow Sawamura in the ribs when he began to protest as to where at least his interests lay.

"The coach in there must be some nut, so joining the volleyball team is probably a no go-"

"You look tall enough" the boy interjected, causing me to dawn a smile.

"Trust me we're not, but if you're interested the three of us could try looking around to see if there are any other clubs that might be good" I continued, before shrugging my shoulders and midly suggesting.

"Or we could make our own. What do you say?". For a few moments the boy stood facing us silently, seeming to be caught somewhere between not wanting to give up what was clearly a childhood dream of his. But also realizing its impossibility now seeing as how his application had been flat out rejected. However, it eventually seemed as though he came to the only conclusion left before looking towards me and saying.

"Sure, that would work"

"Alright, by the way while we're at it my name is Yamoto Atsushi and this is my friend Sawamura" I stated, painting to myself as I said the first name and to Sawamura when I said the second.

"My name's Hinata Shouyou" the boy answered before smiling and putting an arm behind his head, the look on his face brighting up slightly along with his mood at the idea.


	2. An Optimistic Reflection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hi": Speaking
> 
> 'Hi': Thinking
> 
> "Hi": Yelling/Intro
> 
> "Hi": Flashback/ Singing
> 
> All I can say is that if they're tagged they'll be in the baseball club. Since this is only for their first year, some members of the team won't be listed as they'd add to many people to the initial roster. But I reassure that every Karasuno player from the main Haikyuu series will eventually be on the team. However, it may take some time for them to be added due to lack of players mentioned in the main Haikyuu story. I would also like to ask you guys who you would like to be the Karasuno manager for this year? Chiyo Shino'oka (Big Windup) or Hitoka Yachi (Haikyuu)? Both will be managers at some point, but I want to know who will go first.
> 
> I hope that this answer is good enough for all of you.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Jackie Robinson

The three of us had not been walking long when a noticible sound faintly tickled my ears, it was a sound that anyone who'd played baseball for a period of time was more than familiar with. A loud thwacking sound that could only be generated by a small sphere traveling rapidly and slamming into a piece of leather or cloth, only perfectly repicable in three sports in the world.

"Do you guys hear that?" I asked, causing my two companions to stop.

"Hear what? I don't hear anything" Sawamura answered, causing the sound to briefly dissapear before coming back.

"There it is again" I repeated, turning around towards where I thought it was coming from.

"I hear it too" Hinata added while walking towards me to look in the same direction as me, while Sawamura added.

"Well I still don't! If you guys are pulling a prank on me-"

"I think its this way" I stated, cutting him off before taking a step towards the sound with Hinata following me a few seconds later.

"Hey, wait!" Sawamura shouted, before rapidly running to follow us towards the sound he couldn't here. The three of us passed buildings such as the main school gym that was used for school assemblies, indoor P.E. classes, and the practices of the men's & women's basketball teams. As well as the main outdoor practice field that was used by the soccer and track teams, walking for a few minutes before the three of us found ourselves at the source of the thwacking sound. A large open softball practice field that happened to be dotted with about seven people.

"A baseball field?" Hinata asked as he grabbed the chainlink fence.

"No, that's a softball field" I corrected him before analyzing the group that was already on the field before adding.

"But all of the people on the field are boys".

"No there's a woman there too" Hinata added before pointing, causing me to look and notice a young, brown haired...well-endowed woman wearing a green track suit. Who seemed to be in a rather optimistic mood while talking to one of the players who had a dreary expression on his face with blackish-grey eyes and short jet black hair.

'I wonder why she's here?'

"Hey you!" I heard a voie shout causing me to glance to past Hinata, who was on my left, to see Sawamura rapidly running over towards another boy who was wearing a dark navy blue school uniform, with light brown hair and what looked to be chestnut eyes. Who proceeded to freeze up upon hearing his name, and begin wildly looking around when he realized Sawamura was heading towards him.

"Do you know what club's on the field?" Sawamura asked, his voice no less boistrous than when he'd first called for the boy.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-" the boy began answering, looking around as he began his statement.

"N-n, what?" Sawamura thundered, causing me to sigh before running over to try and take him off the poor boy's case.

"Sawamura that's enough!" I stated as I reached the pair, finding that Sawamura not only had grabbed the boy by his shoulders but was not in the act of violently shaking him around. Causing the boy to get a confused and almost passed out look akin to defeated Pokemon, complete with even a small dribble of saliva dribbling out of the side of his mouth. Separating the two I was able to pass Sawamura onto Hinata who, despite his diminutive size, was able to prevent the young boy from passing him while I steadied the young boy.

"Sorry about that," I stated, as I helped him to regain his balance allowing for the dizzy look to leave his eyes.

"My name is Yamato Atsushi, and the idiot who was shaking you was Sawamura Eijun, sorry about all this" I added, causing the boy to proceeded to nod before taking a step back.

'Aw crap, did Sawamura scare him off?'

"M-my-my n-n-name is Mihashi R-Ren" the boy responded before bowing several times.

"Well Mihashi, my friend stoping Sawamura is Hinata Shoyou" I added gesturing to Hinata, who simply gave a friendly wave.

"My friend was just trying to ask what you were doing alone here?"

"W-watching them" Mihashi answered, before emphatically gesturing towards the field towards the group which was currently organized on the field.

"I-I thought there wasn't a baseball team here" he added, clearly as surprised as Sawamura and I were.

'You can say that again' I thought before examining the field and noticing something different.

"Hey, where's the lady from befo-"

"Got you" a loud voice declared, with an energy that could rival Sawamura's, before a firm hand grabbed my left shoulder while one grabbed Mihashi's right one. Causing me to turn around rapidly to reveal the woman from before, while a shock went up Mihashi's causing him to jump several inches in the air before trying to get away. Of course, before either of us could do anything, Mihashi and I found ourselves being dragged onto the field with Sawmaura and Hinata hurrying tow. While Sawamura was spouting off questions loudly. With Mihashi and I only able to get free of the woman's iron grasp when we reached the field. When she let us go.

"Okay what're your positions?" the woman asked, while pulling out a small green pocket book.

"W-what?" Mihashi almost hicupped out, causing the lady to offer a brighter smile befor answering with.

"You know you're positions; infield, outfield, pitcher, catcher, where do you play?"

"O-oh" Mihashi stated, seeming to undestand before replying with.

"P-pitcher"

"Great" the lady enthusiastically stated, before turning towards me and asking.

"What about you?"

"Uh, I played first base and pitched a little in middle school-" I began before realizing what I was saying and changing the topic.

"Wait one second, who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, how rude of me" the lady stated, the smile on her face somehow getting brighter before she put her hands on her hips and proudly proclaimed.

"My name is Momoe Maria, and I am the head coach of the new Karasuno baseball team".

"Wait, since when we did Karasuno have a baseball team?" I asked, confused at the fact that the current information ran counter to what I'd learned when I'd come to this school.

"Starting this year, and you wouldn't believe how difficult it was to get all the paperwork done to get this thing started, it was all possible thanks to Mr. Katakoa" she replied, seemingly proud of her self.

'I both do and don't want to know who that guy is'

"There's a baseball club here?" an over joyed voice asked replied me, reminding me that Sawamura and Hinata had both followed Mihashi and I onto the field.

"Yes, are you interested in joining" Mrs., I mean Coach Momoe answered.

"Yes! I am Sawamura Eijun and I'm a pitcher" Sawamura stated, causing Coach Momoe's eyes to light up as she began excitedly chanting.

"Two pitcher's in one day!". Before turning to Hinata and asking.

"And what about you?"

"Oh, I don't play baseball" Hinata initially answered, before glancing back in the general direction to volleyball gym that he now knew he would never get to meaningfully practice in and adding.

"But I would be more than interested in leaning".

"Good, good, I can't wait until Mr. Kataoka sees this" Coach Momoe stated in an overjoyed voice, that was apparently overheard by others. One of whom; a man with wildish black hair, hazzel eyes, and a stature that was only just taller than Hinata's, almost came sprinting over towards us at Coach Momoe's announcement.

"Oh, you're so cool" he stated in an up beat tone as he began to look the three of us up and down. Well, really just the two of us; as he more or less skipped Sawamura, much to the boy's dismay and eventual irritation.

"Wow you're so big" he stated as he looked at me, moving his head up and down while doing so.

"When did you move to Japan?"

"I've never-" I began, answering the question that had become all too familiar to me over the course of my life, only to be cut off as the boy immediately turned towards Hinata.

"It's nice to see someone shorter than me for a change" before extending a hand and adding.

"Yui- I mean Tajima Tuichiro, nice to meet you" his slip of the tongue causing my eyebrow to instinctively rise out of curiosity.

'Almost began with his first name, weird'.

"Hinata Shoyou, nice to meet you" Hinata replied, before introducing both Sawamura and I much to Sawamura's further irritation.

"Now wait a second!" he shouted, causing Tajima to finally seem to notice him.

"Oh yeah, you're a pitcher" he began before taking the time to look him up and down with an eager gleem in his eye, like bear that was eyeing a potential rival.

"What can you throw?"

"Yes, what can you throw" Coach Momoe chimed in, her own interest seeming to peak at the prospect of hearing Sawamura's current repitoire.

"A cutter, a two seamer, and a palmball" Sawamura answered with a sense of growing pride, seemingly from the pitches he was announcing and the fact that he was currently the center of attention. Not noticing the fact that this declaration had managed to not only earn him another twinkle in Tajima's eye, but also the look of another club member who was currently wearing catcher's gear.

'I wonder what he's looking at?'

"So, if you don't mind me asking, where's the other coach?" Hinata asked, causing Coach Momoe to smile and pit a hand behind her head like a teenager who'd just been found out in a bluff.

"Well he's not here right now," she began, speaking in a tone that one would most likely use when not trying to wake a sleepign dog rather than address a question.

"But he exists right?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, he's just having a little trouble finding a class to teach at the school" she answered as though the topic was a worst a minor convenience instead of being at best a major logistical problem. Unless there was a teacher who was guaranteed to surpervise a sports club at a school the club couldn't exist, meaning this little experiment Coach or possibly now Mrs. Momoe was performing would be dead before it even got off the ground.

"But don't worry, he'll find something, besides until then I've recruited Mr. Shiga to supervise the club" she added, before pointing to a man who sported a head of black hair and a pair of glasses who was in the middle of reading some sort of book. Of course, I wasn't able to spend too much time doing so as there was another sudden jerk on my arm, this time by Tajima, before I was dragged towards the part of the field where the rest of the would be team had gathered.

* * *

If it wasn't initially obvious that the history of Karasuno's baseball club was one which could be measured in hours and days or even months, it was confirmed by my introduction to the people who I'd meet on the field. Or even in the dilapidated state of the field itself; a field which I had punctually leanred from Coach Momoe was the original soft baseball field that was now used by the school's softball club thanks to the purchase of a movable fence.

Yet as I found myself walking back home from the first full day of school, the incredibly uncertain fate that the baseball club was staring down didn't both me at all. If anything there was a certain, almost liberating feeling about the apparent lack of history behind the club.

'After all, making history is much more fun than having to honor it' I thought as I came upon a stop light and punched the button, before waiting for the light to change.

"That was a wild team huh?" a chirpy voice asked, causing me to glance to my right and remember that Hinata was standing next to me. As apparently the two of us lived in the same general direction, or so Hinata claimed, and as such it made sense for us to walk home together. Honestly, I didn't care too much either way, but I would be lying to say that the company was unwelcome; especially seeing as how the bike I usually rode was currently at the local bike shop.

"Yeah, it's got a lot of personality" I answered, my mind going back to the wide cast of chartacters that had greeted the two of us and Sawamura.

_"So you're one of the newer members we've added?" the boy wearing the catcher's gear asked as I had moved closer to the large circle that had been formed by Coach Momoe. His tone seeming to sport a certain curiosity in it that I was rather used to hearing throughout my life, it was what one might call the unique Japanese mannerism. The way that many of them would try to indicate their interest to an outsider of their interest in something, while remaining within the cultural sensitivity._

_"Uh yeah I am" I'd replied before extending a hand._

_"Yamato Atsushi"_

_"Abe Takaya" the young man answered as he took my hand, firmly shaking it in a wierd way._

_"You're hand' doesn't have much of the work of a pitcher" he'd said as he released my hand._

_"What? Oh, yes, well that's because I didn't do much practice as a pitcher outside of a few innings in a practice or two" I responded, placing my throwing hand in my pocket while earning a nod from him._

_"Sp what did you play when you weren't pitching?" another boy, this one with extremely short almost greyish hair and brown eyes, asked._

_"All sorts of positions, well except shortstop and catcher," I'd answered, shrugging my shoulders as I did so._

_"Wasn't fast enough to be at short and didn't have the knees to catch"._

_"Oh really" the boy stated, seemingly more interested in me than he was before I'd answered._

_"Ye~ah, really,"_

_"So what about having a female manager?" the boy had asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow._

_'One of my brother's youth coaches was a woman'._

_"Well you guys get what i mean?" he added. Of course, before either Abe or I could give any answer Coach Momoe intervened and proceeded to give the boy an...interesting demonstration of her capabilities that resulted in the creation of two glasses of orange juice._

"Do you remember the look on that one guy's face when Coach Momoe crushed those oranges?" I asked, causing a wide grin to come over Hinata's face. Almost causing him to miss the change of the crosswalk light.

"Yeah, do you think my parents will react the same way?" he asked as we continued down the street, the smile fading from his face.

"I don't see why, as long as we get a budget your costs should be limited to a glove and batting gloves" I answered, crossign my hands behind my had before adding.

"Even if they don't I'm sure I can lend or help you get some stuff"

"This is going to be so wierd" he stated out of nowhere, raising his head slightly as though he was thinking.

"Why?"

"The last time I wasn't at least practicing volleyball was when I started junior high," he began, his gaze falling down on the ground as he did so.

"Even when I knew there was no chance to play any official matches I still practied every day after school, and even on the weekends, I always thought I'd play it in high school; that's why I went here" he finished, causing a silence to fall between us as we continued to walk down the street.

"I can't really relate," I began, breaking the silence.

"I've been playing baseball my whole life, I saw my first game when I was two, and as long as I played club i got pretty far;" I continued, now turning towards Hinata and finishing with.

"Which is why I promise that as long as I am a teammate of yours you'll get the best of baseball". Causing a smile to come over Hinata's face, the light returning to his face.

"Now, if you don't mind Hinata, I believe this is where we go our separate ways" I declared as we reached a literal fork in the road that, based on what he'd told me, would keep him going straight and have me turn to the left. Nodding in affirmation Hinata proceeded to continue down the road while I turned and made my way down the long road to my home.


	3. The First Full Day

The next school day went by normally with the usual high school gossip; early friendship, new crushes, growing relationships, and an unprecedented the amount of rumors surrounding recent developments at the school. Specifically surrouding the create of the school's new baseball team and the last minute hiring of a new teacher on the faculty's staff. Leaving me wondering one thought as I sat staring out of the window that was right beside my seat; subconsciously balancing the tips of my chopsticks in my mouth with my teeth

'I wonder is he's as fierce looking as they make him sound'

"Hey Yamato" a voice called, prompting me to look up from my small bento lunch to find myself looking right into the face of Hinata, his face blanketed by a bright smile.

"Hey" was the muddled reply that I gave, raising my hand as I did so in a rather unoffensive manner; while noting the way in which Hinata began searching the desks around me, before asking.

"Is this seat taken?" and grabbing a chair.

"Actually I wouldn't do tha-" I began, pulling my chopsticks out as I did so, only for Hinata to pull the chair over to the side of my desk and plopping down in it. To which I could only let out a long sigh before placing the chopsticks back in between my teeth and moving them from left to right with my jaw.

"You'll hurt your teeth if you do that" Hinata stated, causing me to cast an indifferent look towards him and ask.

"Says who?"

"My mom" he answered while popping over his own bento box and beginning to eat.

"I used to do it when I was a kid, and she said it would make my teeth all crooked" prompting to open my mouth and showing my teeth to him.

"I think that problem predates my doing this" I answered, noting the way in which Hinata pouted in response, before adding.

"But I'll keep that in mind"

"You ought to, or else you'll turn into a toothless old man" Hinata added, before enthusiastically taking another bite of his lunch; before changing the look on his face before adding.

"By the way what are you eating?" while glancing down at my rather simple box; which was increadibly plain, even Spartan looking, way mine looked in comparrison to his.

"Rice and vegetables" I answered, causing him to look at me weirdly.

"That's it?"

"Yeah,"

"Any candy?" Hinata asked, asking as if he expected me to pull out a pack of rice candy that I'd smuggled into school; taking on a surprised face when I answered with.

"No"

"Really?"

"Look Hinata, if all you've come here to do is-" I began, just as the doors to the class room loudly slide open prompting Hinata and I to look and see a very steamed Sawamura standing in the doorway.

"What're you doing!" he almost shouted as he sprinted over towards where Hinata was sitting, emphatically pointing at the chair. While Hinata proceeded to look towards me with confusion.

"I told you that seat was taken" was the only answer I could give before shrugging my shoulders again, after all I'd done my part in trying to prevent the little spat from happening. Unfortunately, as Sawamura sprinted over towards where the two fo us were sitting, I quickly got the idea that Hinata being in his seat wasn't the reason for his enthusiastic actions. Especially when he stopped sprinting right next to me, his eyes boring into the side of my head rather than Hinata's, promping me to ask.

"Why are you looking me like that?"

"Haven't you seen the new teacher?" Sawamura asked, causing me to again remove my chopsticks from my mouth before leaning back in my seat.

"Now that you mention it that was mentioned by some of our classmates, but I wasn't really interested so I didn't pay much attention" a response that caused his eyes to swell to the size of baseballs and his pupils to stretch out to become like those of a cat. Causing Hinata's eyes to also widen, his no doubt coming from being shocked at the ability for Sawamura to pull off the spectable rather than my response to the news.

"Don't worry he does this all the time" I stated in an off hand manner to Hinata before redirecting my attention to Sawamura.

"And Sawamura calm down, yes I did hear about the new teacher they admitted to campus" I began, causing him to seemingly exhale and losen his tense shoulders.

"But I didn't look into it too much; I mean there's no way he'll be dangerous, they do background checks, and he's no doubt competent, why else would Coach Momoe be so enthusiastic to have him" causing Sawamura to sport a greatly reduced for a surprise before looking to Hinata and realizing that Hinata was also oblivious to what he was talking about.

"You mean neither of you know?"

'I know I have to repeat myself whenever I'm with you'

"No why do you ask?" Hinata asked, causing Sawamura to grab the his uniform jacket.

"They say he's dressed like a business man and got shades" Sawamura stated, making sure to pantamyme the fact the man was wearing glasses.

"So what? You're complaining he has class?" I asked, causing Sawamura to give me a look that indicated that I clearly wasn't seeing his problem.

'I don't have time for this'

"Look Sawamura, if he's our new coach then we'll see him at our informal practice, and that's good enough for me" I firmly declared, making sure to end the conversation by beginning to dig into my lunch.

"Oh yeah, Coach Momoe said that we were going to hae a normalish practice" Hinata added, causing Sawamura nad I to look at him with surprise.

"What do you mean?"  
I asked.

"She said we'd be having a full practice today" Hinata clarified before adding.

"I guess we'll see what your talking about then"

"Yeah, just wait, then you'll see what I mean!" Sawamura firmly added in agreement before crossing his arms before grabbing a seat, plopping right down, and beginning to eat his own lunch. While Hinata sat unsure of how to respond to the demonstration he'd just witness, his concern being answered by a simple shrug of my arms before he began to eat his own meal.

* * *

There are certain things I can take in my life. I can take the looks I occaisionally get when I walk downt he street, though they're only tolerable because of the subtle way that most people perform them. I can stand the disatnce between myself and my relatives as well as the fact that inspite of my best attempts my brother and I are going to different schools despite going to same one for years. Heck, I can even take my allergies; if only because of the fact I was born with them and thus have no control over their existence.

However, on thing I have found to have more trouble than usual taking is Sawamura being right; specifically Sawamura being enitrely and irrifutably right in every way imaginable. Yet this was exacltly the situation that I found myself in as I currently stood in line for the new baseball "clubroom" waiting for my school approved uniform. A single solitary figure standing diagnolly off to the side indeed clad in a business suit, with a pair of dark tinted American cop sunglasses, and a head of slicked back jet black hair.

'Does he know he looks like a Yakuza boss?' I wondered to myself as I stood outside the entrance way to the "club room" which was really nothing more than a large shed that seemed to have been in somewhat descent condition. Redoing my button for what must have been the tenth time in as many minutes; in an attempt to make myself look busy.

"Told you you'd see what I meant" I heard a raspy Sawamura whisper from behind me causing me to roll my eyes, before grinding out.

"Yes, you most certainly did"

"Hey whose that guy?" Tajima asked, bringing attention towards the same man off to the side.

"Maybe he's a salary man" Abe suggested, the answer coming out of his mouth in a disinterested manner as though he was speaking about what he was having for lunch or whether or not he'd taken in the laundry. Not even bothering to look in the direction to the man that he was speaking about as he did so. Making it so that he was unable to see the way Mr. Shiga casually walked up to the man before beginning to talk to him and show him the small notebook that Coach Momoe had written our names in the previous name.

"No, Mr. Shiga wouldn't be showing him that book then" Hanai stated as he walked up behind Sawamura and I, accompanied as few minutes later by Mihashi and Hinata before the sound of the clubroom door closed behind them.

"Oh Mr. Kataoka is here" a female voice stated in a merry tone, causing everyone except Hinata to turn towards Coach Momoe; looks of surprise plastered across all of our faces before Abe spoke up.

"Mr. Kataoka?"

"Yeah, the new coach who took the job to make our club a team" she clarified, causing the group to be split 50/50 in either glancing back towards Mr. Kataoka or keeping their gaze still on Coach Momoe.

"He's going to be out new coach?" Mihashi asked, his tone revealing how intimidated by the sunglass wearing figure, while Hinata managed to mumble out.

"He's so cool" prompting me to look at him and see the star struck look that was in his eyes, causing me to roll mine.

'Nice to see he already has one supporter'

"Yeah, come on" Coach Momoe stated before walking towards Mr. Kataoka, with the our team following behind her in a diorganized manner. Our rag tag group's diorderly manner combining with our blindingly bright white uniforms and dark orange hats making it even more clear as to how incredibly new we were. The lot of us following Coach Momoe until all eleven of us stood across from the suit clad man, while Mr. Shiga proceeded to walk away from the man and take his seat in the "dugout" where he'd observed us yesterday.

"Momoe Maria?" the man asked, causing all of us to look at Coach Momoe as though she was trying to hide among us; seeming to forget that she was a woman.

"Yes I am" she answered, causing the man to remove his sunglasses before bowing slightly.

"My name is Kataoka Tesshin, it's good to meet you" the man stated, earning a bow from Coach Momoe in return.

"It's good to meet you too Mr. Kataoka, I have heard much of your achievements"

"You think too much of me Mrs., I'm truly honored to have been considered for this position" he asnwered, raising his head and adding.

"Is this the team?"

"Yes, all eleven of them" Coach Momoe answered, which the man took as an invitation to look over all eleven of us. His eyes prying into us the same way that hawk pries into the body of mouse before it strikes; or the way a snipe surveys his prey. Sizing us up and measuring us for every ounce that we currently were, and might one day be, worth and causing all of us to seeming snap to attention. Well almost all of us, as inspite of this Hinata still bore his star struck gaze from earlier and gazed right back at the man; doing so even after the man returned his glasses to his face.

"Alright boys, listen up" Coach Momoe loudly stated, breaking off the stalemat that had formed between the twelve of us.

"I want you to do some warm up stretches and two laps around the field before we begin our proper practice, alright?" Coach Momoe stated, causing everyone to nod tour head and state.

"Right" in almost perfect unison before moving off towards the greener part of the practice field, making it sot hat we weren't able to hear Mr., now coach, Kataoka mutter a single word under his breath.

"Green"

* * *

A few minutes, and two laps around the field, later all eleven of us stood at what had once been home plate. Hands on our hips, with sweat slowly starting to make its way down our face, and some in some extreme cases one or two of us breathing heavily. Not a single one of us showing any sort of weakness in our eyes; after all, this was what it meant to play high school baseball in Japan. A whole lot of practice, a whole lot of repetition, a whole lot of sweat, a whole lot of work, and maybe just a little success.

"At least we didn't start practicing in the summer" a still voice called, causing me to look to my right to find myself staring into the face of the same black haired and black eyed boy from before. A look of surprise coming over my fast, that made him think that I wasn't able to think of any reason to support his claim.

"It would be hotter and we wouldn't get to play in the summer tournament" he clarified, to wish I nodded.

"Yeah, I guess your right" I added, bowing slightly to have a sort of formality even in my physically pressed state.

"The name's Yamoto Atsushi, what's yours"

"Kageyama Tobio" the boy answered before performing a half bow and adding.

"Nice to meet you" causing me to crack a smile at the fact that the situation we were in didn't seem to hold up to what he'd said.

"Likewise," I answered, earning me a simple shrug from him and causing a thought to cross my face.

"Don't I know you from somwhere?" the question, meant to be a good natured prod into both of our memories. But it was obvious from the way that the young man shot straight up as though he'd been struck in the back by a bolt of lightning. Allowing me to see, if only for a second, a look of discomfort and uncertainty to twinge across his face before it went back to the placid and seemingly indifferent look that was on it before.

"No, no you don't" he stated before departing, leaving me to rather confused as to Kageyama's reaction.

'What was that about?'

"Alright everybody circle up" Coach Momoe called, causing everyone to do such.

"Hey Coach, when are we going to be performing drills?" Hanai asked, causing a mischievous smile to sneak over the woman's face. Moving almost everyone in our small group to almost instinctively take a step back in the same way that a mouse might do so when having found itself in the cross hairs of a cat.

"We won't" she answered, causing a confused wave of looks to make its way across our group.

"What do you mean?" Abe asked, causing Coach Momoe to put her hands on her hips before clarifying.

"We need to break you all in, strengthen your endurance, getting you back in athletic shape, and to do that we;re going to be running a lot"

"What do you mean alot?" Sawamura asked, causing several of the players to sweat drop while both Hinata and I proceeded to glance towards him with looks that asked one question.

'Are you serious?'

"All practice" came her answered, causing additional sweat drops to come down our faces while my gaze fell upon Coach Kataoka.

"Alright, let's get started on sprints" she said, a smile plastered on her face before she clapped her hand together. Prompting all of us to proceed to jog off towards first base to begin what I assumed was going to be our first practice on base stealing, not even a day into the team being assembled.

* * *

Several long hours later Hinata, Sawamura, and I found oursleves wearily chaning back into our regular schools clothes. Faces blanketed in a disgustingly ripe smelling mixture of sweat and dust, while our dirtied uniforms lay tucked away in out bags; while the other members of the team lay in various states of discheveled dress.

"She made us run all practice" Hanai stated to no one in particular, his tone being filled with an almost dazed sense of disbelief at the reality of the past two hours while his gaze was blankly aimed at the locker in front of him.

"Well she said we would" Abe replied in a rather unemotional tone, somehow managing to disguise the way he'd been taking large gulps of air at the end of practice.

"I know, every coach says that on the first day of practice" Hanai countered frustration lacing his voice as he turned to address him, before his gaze to this time fall upon the floor of the club room before he added.

"But she actually did it"

"It's a good thing too, you don't seem to have any stamina at all" Kageyama muttered, causing Hanai to suddenly raise his head towards him; an offended look on his face.

"What did you say?" he asked, causing me to close my eyes before leaning my head against the locker.

"Come on Hanai, he didn't mean anything" Tajima stated in a joking manner, grabbing the taller boy by the shoulder as he did so; unbalancing him and inadvertently causing Hanai to momentarily stoop to Tajima's level. Before eventually falling over, a scene which caused Tajima to lose his laid back demeanor.

"Whoops"

'I think I'll take that as my que to leave' I thought before unceremoniously shoving the rest of the things I'd worn at practice into my bag before exiting the club room as quickly as I could. Just in time to hear Hanai climb up from the floor of the club room, declaring.

"What was that for?" as he did so. Oblivious of the fact that Hinata had exited with me until he walked past me, his arms folded behind his head as he did so.

"Well that was weird" he muttered, seeming to himself, causing me to almost be taken aback at the way he seemed to act as though I wasn't there.

'He did know he just passed me right?'

"Hey! Hinata! Yamato! Wait!" a loud voice called from behind me, prompting me to turn and see Sawamura sprinting towards me; earning an eyeroll from me as he reached the two of us.

"Sawamura, there's no need to sprint after us like we're trying to escape you" I calmly stated as he arrived to where I stood, briefly gasping after he reached me.

"N-n-no need to wait, I'm a-all ears" he answered, gasping each word out as he did so.

'Honestly, what makes this guy tick?'

"What do you think about Coach Momoe?" Hinata asked, my gaze looking up towards the clubroom to see several of the other teammembers exiting the club room. Each of them wearing a loosely buttoned up version of their uniforms as they went their separate ways, the only difference in terms of the state of their uniform was what looked to be Kageyama.

"I just hope that she knows what she's doing" was the only answer I could give.

"I think she's got what it takes to whip us into shape" Sawamura stated before standing up straight and giving a thumbs up that would've seemed more natural in an old Superman cartoon than real life. Earning a sweat drop from both Hinata and I as we noticed the way that his face was turning red from his act of holding his breath.

"Sure" I replied, before looking down and adding.

"By the way Sawamura, didn't you say that you're cousin was coming over for dinner at 5:30?" I asked, glancing down at my watch and causing the boy to once again stand straight up.

"That's right!" he shouted, before suddenly sprinting past Hinata and I off towards the school's entrance and down the street.

'I wish I knew where he got most of his energy from' I thought as I watched him run off, before placing my book bag over me shoulder and joining Hinata on our walk home.


	4. A Weekend Break

There are no doubt many things you'd ecpect to find yourself being pre-occupied on a Saturday afternoon. Watching a favorite TV show, or getting into a new show, rereading a manga you bought the previous Sunday in anticipation of the newest issue in the series. Watching a baseball game, a soccer match, participating in a sports practice or rehersal; heck, maybe even just doing nothing. All are pretty descent ways to spend a Saturday and ones that I've thought of doing on multiple occaisions.

However, one way that I most certainly didn't think that I'd end up spending my Saturday morning was by having two teammates of mine sitting in my living room. While I, playing the host, was in the midst of pouring three glasses of fruit juice in the kitchen; a brown towel wrapped around my waist to stop any of the juice staining my pands or shirt should it spill.

'How did I end up like this?' was what I, and no doubt you, thought as I finished pouring the last glas of juice before returning the half gallon jug to the small refrigerator.

All I can say is boy do I have a story for you.

* * *

If Coach Momoe believed in what Coach Kataoka was saying then she went the full nine yards/eight meters in practicing it; as we proceeded to spend the rest of the week following his instructions almost to the tee. With our daily dedications to cardio excercise only being broken up by breaks for water and the occaisional opportunity to practice throwing in four pairs, with one group containing three members. With every practice always ending in the same way; with the eleven of us packing into that small, cramped, and musty glorified shed that served as our club room.

Which was why I was so happy to be finding myself at home on Saturday, having survived the always difficult first week back of school, due to Coach Momoe and Coach Kataoka electing to not have Saturday practice.

'It's nice to have the day off' I thought as I leaned back onto my bed, before letting out a relieved sigh; before looking at the small pile of homework that I'd finished powering through only about ten minutes before.

"Well part of the day off" I muttered, before returning my attention to my window and the beautiful scenery that was outside, before adding.

"It's kind of weird" as my attention proceeded to look towards the small bookshelf where, in addition to the obvious content of books, several photos of me were adorned; all of the, featuring the various baseball teams I'd been on in my life. Most of whom were without a doubt practicing rigorously as I sat gazing upon those photos.

_"Wait, why're we not having practice tomorrow Coach?" I remembered Abe asking while the rest of us either bent over or sat on the ground panting; with the starting catcher being the only one of us seemingly not out of breath after three hours of practice._

_"As much as I'd love to have a proper full practice my schedule is unfortunately booked the whole day through" she stated as she pulled out a small notebook, this one being of a different color than the one she'd taken notes on us in; it's cover being blue. Her eyes scanning over it to make sure she did indeed have her notes on the upcoming weekend plans all sorted out, before adding._

_"And Coach Kataoka hasn't finished the necessary preliminaries to become a staff member and he'll need to use the time to catch up on his lesson plans"_

_"Why don't you let us lead our own practice?" Hanai asked prompting the woman to look up from her notebook, a cheeky smile on her face making it so that no one needed her to actually give a reply to Hanai's answer._

_"Of course, that doesn't mean that the eleven of you shouldn't use the day to train or practice in private in some way, shape, or form; a single weekend without practice might not show, but if you never bother to keep up on your skills you'll fall behidn before you know it" she stated firmly, pointing a finger at all eleven of us before poiniently adding._

_"So make sure to do something relevant to keep up, got it?" a statement which immediately earned her and affirmative round of._

_"Yes Coach!" before the lot of us were sent on a final cool off lap before we were sent to the club room and finally went home._

'Speaking of which I'd better get to doing something' I thought as I rose from my bed and left my room, making my way down towards the front room; picking up my glove and baseball cap as I went. Eventually making my way to the kitchen and beginning to dig through the cupboard where my father insisted that my brother and I place all of the family's water bottles that weren't being used. Once they were thoroughly cleaned of course.

"Now where is that stupid hydroflask?" I muttered aloud as I searched through the cabinet, carefully removing each of the water bottles that were there; surprised at the sheer number of them that were there, especially the ones that were so old they ought to have been recycled.

"Here it i-" I began, finally spotting the navy blue flask I was looking for just as the sound of the bell ringing cuased me to pause and shift my attention towards the front door; rising, walking over towards it, and thinking.

'I wonder who that could be' as I did so.

Reaching the front room, I proceeded to undo several of the locks on the front door before finally opening the door; revealing the slightly stooped, panting figure of Sawamura. Dressed in his casual clothes, with the school's orange baseball cap on his head, and a mitt under his right arm.

"Oh, hey Sawamura, what-"

"You'll never believe it!" he almost shouted, prompting me to physically take a step back in surprise.

"Believe what?"

"They locked the club room" he clarified, a statement which I first answered with an eyebrow before adding.

"Yeah, there isn't any practice so-"

"But no one's there, even for optional drills" he added, causing me to first open my mouth and then realize something.

"Wait? You went to school on a Saturday? When you knew there wouldn't be any club activities?" perhaps the question made Sawamura realize how his actions sounded, or that he'd failed to tell me something that made the story sound less...weird.

"Well no..." he began, scratching the back of his head before he proceeded to sweat slightly.

"...I thought about practicing and tried calling you and Hinata, but neither of you answered, so I went to the school thinking you might be there" he clarified before finishing.

"Then I came here"

'That makes a lot more sense'

"So Yamato, what training have you done?" Sawamura asked, causing me to raise my other eyebrow in surprise.

"Nothing"

"Nothing?"

"Yes, nothing" I repeated, causing Sawamura to dawn with a look of pure schock.

"But you can't do that! If you don't practice, you'll fall behind, and...and..." Sawamura began, his rambling bringing up several good point. After all as soon as the team got more than eleven players, or even while it still had it, club members who didn't or wouldn't practice regularly probably had no future in the starting line up; or if they were lucky they'd have an extremely limited one. There was just one problem with his concern.

"Sawamura, it's only 10:30" I stated, causing the boy to suddenly stop before asking.

"What?"

"It's 10:30; I had breakfast and then made sure to do my homework so that I'd have time to do some of the throwing exercises Coach Momoe showed me without any disruptions" I repeated, causing a look of understanding to come over Sawamura's face.

"Besides, even if I wanted to I wouldn't be much good if was pre-occupied by the idea of unfinished homework and I didn't-" I went to add, only to this time be interupted by a faint rumbling sound; causing my gaze to fall on Sawamura's stomach and me to ask.

"Sawamura, did you skip breakfast?"

"Maybe..." was the answer Sawamura gave to the question, and all that I really needed to hear, before I let out a sigh and turned around to move further into my house.

"Fine, come with me, I think there's a slice or two of melon in the fridge" I stated, moving back towards the kitchen before hearing Sawamura fumble around removing his shoes before entering and closing the door behind him. Luckily my hunch was right, although it turned out to half a melon that I had to cut a slice from, and soon enough Sawamura and I were sitting at the table.

"Thanks for the meal" he stated, clapping his hands together as he did so before diging into the slice of fruit before him; earning another sigh from me.

* * *

A few hours, and a very interesting conversation later, Sawamura and I found ourselves in the midst of a moderately intense warm up, with us tossing the ball in between the two of us. Needless to say, you can probably guess which one of the two of us brought most of the intensity.

"Come on Yamato, put your back into it!" Sawamura dramatically stated as he punched his glove firmly, whiel I let out a sigh before raising first my arms, then my leg, stepping forwards, and then delivering a strike right into Sawmura's mitt for a decently loud thwack.

"Come on, you can throw harder" was the response Sawamura gave to my action, before delivering a louder strike...past my mitt and into the siding of my house.

"And you can be more accurate Sawamura" I counted before walking ove and picking up the ball, adding.

"Just because you can throw hard, doesn't mean you should if it costs you your accuracy" before stepping and delivering another throw to him; or at least I would've if the sound of a phone ringing didn't suddenly cut through the air, causing me to stop in my motion.

"Sorry, that's mine" Sawamura stated, before running past me and into the house to where he'd set his phone down in the kitchen; while I was content to remain where I was.

"Hello" he stated as he raised the phone to his ear, with him exchanging the intensity he'd displayed in his tone just a few minutes ago for a more friendly greeting.

"Oh hello Hinata, yes I did call" he began, before sheepishly putting hand behidn his head,

"Where am I? Well..." he added, before looking towards me; his face changing to one the seemed to ask a question if he could tell Hinata where he was.

'If that was a question you could've not answered the phone' I thought before gesturing to him to continued and he finished.

"I'm at Yamato's house...oh you don't know where it is well..."

* * *

And that's how I found myself with not one, but two unplanned guests in my house.

"Wow Yamato, your house is so cool" Hinata stated as he walked in through the front door, just as I entered into the front room with a tray that carried three drinks on it.

"Thanks" I answered before sitting down at the table and proceeding to hand each of the them a glass of orange juice.

"I didn't know what the two of you wanted so I just got the two of you juice" I added, as Sawamura proceeded to sniff the glass while Hinata proceeded to eagerly take the juice before energetically draining the contents of the glass in no more than half a dozen gulps.

"Thanks" he declared with a large smile, before setting glass down on the table while Sawamura began to tentatively drink his own glass, much to my surprise.

"Y-you're welcome," I answered, my eyes still fixated on the empty glass of juice while Hinata stretched his back out and let out a satisfied sigh as Sawamura finally began to down the first gulps of his glass of juice; making visible faces at his displasure.

"Sorry Sawamura, we didn't have any cherry juice" I added, trying to shift the conversation as Sawamura finished his glass. Also doing so in one go in an attempt to prevent himself from having to drink it again, instead of Hinata's desire to do so out an enjoyment of the taste. The statement earning me a gaze from him that made me think fo the looks cats gave their owners when they felt betrayed, even when the owner hadn't intentionally set out to betray the pet in question. Which also had the misfortune of bringing another subject up for Hinata.

"What you like cherries?" Hinata asked while turning to Sawamura with a look fo surprise on his face.

"Yeah, I do" Sawamura answered, causing Hinata to lean towards him and squint.

"Anyway-" I interrupted, deciding to intervene to prevent the two from beginning what could potentially be a long argument.

"-Hinata, what were your plans today?" I asked, gaining me the attention of the small orangette.

"Oh, well I was going to go on a morning job but I over slept my alarm, probably because I did my jog really late last night, and it was only when I looked at my phone that I saw Sawamura's message" Hinata answered, only pausing upon the mention of Sawamura's phone call to turn towards the boy and add.

"Sorry Sawamura" before turning back towards me.

"I saw his message and went to the field, only to find that no one was there, so I called him and that's how I came here" he finished, before sliding his glass towards me; silently indicating that he wanted more juice.

"What and I a highschooler or a housewife?" I murmurred to myself as I got another glass, returning to find Hinata admiring one of the picture's of my family on one of the tables at the far edge of the living room.

"Wow Yamato, I didn't know you had a brother" Hinata stated as I set down the glass before turning and making towards him, before looking over his shoulder. My eyes catching sight of the picutre he was holding; a rather simple picture of my father, brother, and I after what looked to be a victory in a little league tournament. The picture most likely having been taken either by another parent on the team or by one of the family friends that would sometimes come to our games.

The picture was fairly simple, in it I was dressed in my blue junior league uniform while my brother and father were dressed in normal summer clothing; with my father wearing long black shorts and a blue shirt while my brother wore grye shirts and a yellow shirt. Smiles plastered all over our faces, with each of us wearing a baseball cap, and a small medal around my neck; the three of us seemingly ignorant of the actions of the crowd around us.

"Yeah, we're twins" I stated, causing Hinata to turn towards me in what I most likely knew was surprise; his reaction coming from the undeniable fact that between the two of us my brother looked far more like my father. With him having a slightly more gently tanned skin tone with straight hair to my dark brown skin and curly black hair. The only thing that my father and I seemingly sharing at all, being our asian facial features.

"Well, I'm older by 90 seconds" I added jokingly as Hinata put down the picture and picking up another one, this time with my brother wearing his basketball jersey while I was the one wearing the casual clothing, albeit more suited to the winter season.

"Speaking of which where's your dad?" Sawamura asked, no doubt looking towards the stairs that led to the house's second floor.

"He went out for breakfast with a friend he hadn't seen in a while" I answered as Hinata returned to his place at the table and proceeded to drain the glass again before returning it to its place at the table. An answer that led to Sawamura standing straight up from his position at the table, his fist clenched, as a powerful look came over his face which radiated an almost triumphant attitude. Taking in a deep breath, before clutching the front of his shirt, preparing to...

"Don't you dare" I stated in a firm tone causing him to look at me, his eyes cat like again, before he slowly released the breath; his gaze looking towards me as though he was no longer sure that he was interpreting the situation properly.

"And yes, it does mean that you can you the siding for target practice" I added, causing the previous triumph to come over his face before-

"Yoshi!" miliseconds before a pillow hit him straight in the face, Sawamura apparently not having noticed the the fact I was standing next to a pillow adorned chair.

"What did I just say!"

"Use your siding for target practice?" Hinata asked, his question earning my attention while I put a hand behind my head.

"Sawamura and I would do this thing where I'd use some stencils to draw a strike zone on the side of the house, with the goal of throwing each pitch I call out where I tell him to hit it" I began, earning me an affirmative nod and "oh" from Hinata, before I added.

"The problem is, it makes a lot of noise and scuffs up the side of the house"

"Come on let's go" Sawamura shouted before grabbing Hinata and racing out of the house, having seemingly already forgotten the pillow sandwich I'd just given him and the fact there was plenty of other throwable furniture in the house.

"I just need to get the pencil stuff from my room" I said, before going up the stairs to get the necessary supplies.

* * *

Nearly half an hour, and several frustrating retracings, later Sawamura, Hinata, and I all stood in the backwayard; a small backet of soft baseballs next to where Sawamura was.

'I don't care who the demonstrations for, there's no way I'm going to let use a hard baseball in my backyard' I thought, my eyes going over the numerous outlines from the dents that the loud mouthed boy had left on the side of my house.

It wasn't a "backyard" really; just a piece of undeveloped grassfilled land behind the house, where fences were few and far between. No doubt making it a nightmare for my father when it came to keeping track of us, but ideal for Sawamura and I to practice our little excercise.

"Observe" I told Hinata, focusing my attention back towards Sawamura and suddenly saying.

"Sawamura, 2-seam fastball, lower inside corner, right handed batter" I declared, causing the boy to nod before setting and stepping forwards, sending a ball to the general half of the box I called for, much to his frustration.

"Again" I called and Sawamura threw it again, this time managing to this time clip the inside part of the strike zone for what most umpires would've called a ball.

"Again" this time Sawamura gunned it in and managed to get nearly half of the ball to hit the inside part of the zone.

"Alright, Sawamura, 4-seam fastball, high outside corner, right handed batter" I declared earning myself a nod and a frustrated sigh from Sawamura as he proceeded to set.

"Yamato, I know I'm new to baseball ball, but doesn't Sawamura need to be able to throw more than just-" Hinata asked, only to be cut off by the sound of the ball soaring through the air. Starting at a particularly high point, coming from Sawamura unusual angle of release that sacrificed conventional placement for speed, speeding through the air before slamming into the strike zone. Exactly where I called for it.

"Woah" Hinata whispered as Sawamura picked up another ball from the basket and began to grip it firmly.

"Sawamura and I were in the last class to ever graduate from Aagi Junior High, as such we nothing" I began, my statement earning a look from Hinata that was seemingly laced with empathy; a first when it came to Sawamura and I speaking on the topic.

"No advisors, no coaches, no funding, we spent most of our practices either here or at the batting cages, and we practically had to beg for them to let us use the school's baseball uniforms for one more year; and we were the only sports club that participated in any tournament the year we graduated" I added as I clenched my fist and saw Sawamura begin tossing the ball in his hands up and down impatiently.

"Sawamura may be loud, annoying, and impatient; but the fact he was willing to let me teach him how to use one pitch let alone two without any adult help makes me willing to do whatever it takes to get others to see him" I finished, before silence came over the three of us.

"I know what it's like to counted out too" Hinata stated, breaking the silence and earning him a look from Sawamura.

" **I love volleyball, I'll always love volleyball** , even if no club will let me play it because I'm short or because fewer boys play it than girls, and I'll always want to be like the little giant" he also added, pouring his passion for the sport into the first half of the statement in demonstration of his despiration.

"And while I'll always be waiting to get the chance to play it on a club or proteam, I'll gladly be on your team until then" he finished, causing a cocky smile to go on Sawamura's face.

"Alright then Hinata, let's make you the best 'Little Giant' baseball's ever seen!" the easily excitable boy declared, throwing his right hand in the air while tossing the ball in his left hand to Hinata. Leaving only one thought to go through my head.

'Odd balls on a team of odd balls, I can't wait to see where you take me'


	5. An Opportunity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait. I had some problems over the summer since one of my immediate family members caught COVID so writing wasn't the biggest thing on my mind, of course even if it had been I wouldn't have been able to do it because my computer died. Thankfully I have a new one now, and on top of that I'm nearing the end of my last year of University so hopefully this will see my schedule become less hostile towards writing in the next few months. Still, I intend to keep with the minimum of one chapter a month as often as possible; but I hope you all stay safe out there. 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Jackie Robinson

Sunday rolled by in a flash and before I knew it I found myself standing on the school's dusty, old, ball field with Hinata and Sawamura again. The three of us having been broken into a group to perform three way warm up throws due, to the fact that our team had an odd number of players, with our throwing stamina's being in their normal order. With Sawamura and I alternating first in the categories of stamina, strength, and accuracy while Hinata always seemed to bring up the rear; in spite of the noteworthy progress he'd made since we first began. The noteworthy thwack of Hinata's most recent throw hitting the webbing of my mitt being an indication to the short orangette's progress in the short period of time.

"Nice throw Hinata" I stated as I pulled the ball out of my mitt and tossed it to Sawamura, making sure to add.

"It's so nice to be on the receiving end of a throw that's on target for a change" as I did so, earning me a frustrated glare from Sawamura as he caught my throw and proceeded to toss the ball up into the air twice before moving to throw it to Hinata.

"Thanks Ya-" Hinata began, only for him to be cut off by Sawamura's throw hitting the palm of his glove. Forcing him to take a step backwards in order to properly gather the ball onto his grasp. Prompting me to snap my head around in the direction of where Sawamura was standing, only to be greeted by the sight of the loud mouthed pitcher standing straight up with his hand behind his head; a distracted look on his face.

"Sawamura, can you try not to kill Hinata?" I asked as I turned my attention back to Hinata in preparation to field his throw.

"He's going to be a little hard to replace"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry" Sawamura replied, each repetition of the word seeming to have gained a certain level of intensity as Hinata went and tossed the ball towards me. A series of apologies he was still doing as I caught Hinata's throw and turned to make my, forcing me to a giant pump fake so that I wouldn't accidentally beam the soon to be pitcher in the head while he was bowing. However, before I could begin chastising the youthful and strong armed, yet not particularly bright, pitcher I caught sight of Coach Momoe confidently strolling towards the three of us.

"Sawamura stand up!" I whispered, causing the young to raise his head slightly before asking.

"What?"

"Stand up, stand-" I whispered first a second and then a third time, taking care to gesture several times in an attempt to get my point across; none of which seemed to work as Sawamura had only just managed to stand at his full height as Coach Momoe reached the three of us. With the young woman wisely electing to stand a healthy distance away from Sawamura and I, escpecially seeing as how she didn't known who was throwing to who.

"Oh, hey Coach" I stated, placing my hand behind as I did so before adding.

"I didn't see you there" something which caused Sawamura to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"But you-" he began, only for his counter point to be interrupted by a declaration of.

"Think fast" from me interrupted him, before I sent the ball speeding towards him and right into the webbing of his mitt for a loud thwack.

"Are the three of you busy?" she asked in her usual tone, which was a weird combination of being seemingly sweet while also directly to the point, a wide smile on her face.

"No, we're just warming up" Hinata answered, before pointing towards me and adding.

"Yamato was loosening his arms while Sawamura was stretching again" causing me to turn and face him, surprised at the degree that he had altered the truth. But even more surprised at the way he was able to sneak a wink towards me by closing his right eye just as he was pretending to wipe something out of it, raising his thumb to quickly flash a thumbs up to me.

"Well then, I was wondering if I could borrow Hinata from your warm up group" Coach Momoe stated; prompting Hinata, Sawamura, and I to all turn our attention back towards her. The combined confusion on all of our faces seeming indicate our cluelessness as to the specific reason for Coach Momoe's request.

"Coach Kataoka and I need him for something, it will only be a second" she added; seemingly to reassure Sawamura and I more than Hinata, who simply proceeded to shrug his shoulders before placing his glove under his arm and jogging towards the dugout.

"Oh, and by the way, you might want to prevent doing too many pump fakes when you're throwing Yamato, you might pull something" she suggested in a mild tone before turning and making her own way towards the dugout. Leaving Sawamura and myself to sweat drop in almost perfect unison before going back to our now two person warm up, neither of us particularly clued into what her intentions were with Hinata.

* * *

Luckily, Sawamura and I didn't have to wait terribly long to understand the reason that Coach Momoe saw it fit to seek out Hinata from out tiny throwing group, as a few minutes later she and Coach Kataoka called all eleven of us to come in for a practice conference to delegate our next series of activities. The answer of course came when I caught sight of the fact that Abe wasn't the only one wearing catcher's gear, the person with the honor of wearing the second set of gear being a certain small individual whose orange hair snuck through several of the rear pieces of the catcher's helmet. A sight that caused my eyes to first widen before I put my head into my right hand and began slowly shaking my head.

"I can't believe he somehow found a position less appreciated then first base" were the words which I muttered from under my breath as I raised my hand and ran it through my curly head of hair, not wanting to begin to think about the amount of trouble the young orangette was about to get himself into.

"Alright listen up" Coach Momoe called, causing the few players who had been talking to instantly stop doing so.

"Starting from today we'll be formally easing into our regular pitching and fielding drills" she began, her statement causing the ears of the other players to almost instantly perk up with interest.

"We'll be splitting you into two groups for the next hour, Coach Kataoka wants to take our prospective pitchers and catchers to the outfield to get to see what they have, while he's doing that I'll be leading batting practice over here, after that we'll have a small break before we start fielding practice" she added, causing a wave of nods to go around the group before she gave an authoritative declaration of.

"Alright, let's go" sending the now split groups off in their separate direction.

"Hinata Shoyou, Abe Takaya, Mihashi Ren, Sawamura Eijun, and Yamato Atsushi" Coach Kataoka called, causing all five of us to turn towards the tall, slick haired man. The unseen shock that went up Hinata, Mihashi, and Sawamura's spines making it obvious that the three of them hadn't noticed him standing next to Coach Momoe when they'd first arrived.

'Truth be told neither did I' I thought as the five of us made our way off towards the aforementioned "outfield", Hinata's catcher's gear making somewhat muted clacking sounds that he tired to mute by tightening the various straps on the gear as he went.

"So, you got picked to be the back up catcher?" I asked in amused tone, stretching my arms behind my head as I did so. As is so often the case for young people who've never word a catcher's mask before, and thus don't know how to properly adjust it to protect them while not covering their mouth, Hinata's answer was initially a muffled torrent of sounds. Luckily, however, the orangette felt that his speech was as restricted by the mask as it actually was, prompting him to remove the helmet, as well as his glove, and begin fiddling with that too.

"Yeah, I did" he replied, his statement no doubt being a repetition of his initial answer.

"So, how'd they convince you?" I asked, after all for most inexperienced people the catcher's position was neither glamourous nor noteworthy. To the untrained eye it might simply appear that a team threw some additional gear onto the largest member of their team and told him to act as a glorified backstop to the pitcher's throws. So, needles to say, I was very interested in Hinata's potential answer.

"Nothing really, I tried the gear on and they said that it fit well and that I'd have a better chance at playing this year as Abe's back up, so I said yes" Hinata answered, earning a side glance from me at the thought of how accurate that description of situation had been.

"I wonder if I'll get to catch for you" he added, causing me to troll my eyes and shake my head.

"Probably not" I flatly stated, earning me a glance and a raised eyebrow from Hinata.

"I'm honestly not a pitcher, I don't know who suggested otherwise anyways"

"I did" Hinata answered, causing me to snap my head towards him to give him my undivided attention.

"Why?"

"Because Coach Momoe and Coach Kataoka hadn't mentioned you yet, and Sawamura said you pitched in Middle School" Hinata answered, shrugging his shoulders while taking a matter of fact tone that made it seem like I was the crazy one. Making it so that he was unable to see my clenched jaw, clenched fist, or twitching eyebrow on my face.

"Excuse me" I muttered, before stomping over to a certain loud mouth who was in the middle talking to everyone and no one in particular. Making it so that no one minded, or probably even noticed, as I threw my arm over his shoulder and suddenly pulled him over to my side.

"Why did you tell Hinata I could pitch?" I muttered, whispering it into Sawamura's ear in an attempt to keep our conversation as private as possible.

"Because you can" was the straight answer I received, the confused tone causing me to face palm and allow him to shake my grip off of his shoulder.

"Sawamura, I can't pitch" I retorted, causing the young man to begin shaking his head.

"Sure you can, you did I middle school" he promptly countered, before adding.

"You threw that funny bloop pitch"

"Sawamura that was a knuckleball, and it was the only pitch that I threw because it was the only one I knew how to throw" I tried to calmly explained, earning me nothing more than a simple shrug from my friend.

"Well then you'll learn some more" he answered, his tone carrying a certainty and ease within it that I somehow managed to simultaneously envy and be frustrated by. But I was unable to even begin to explain to Sawamura the flaws in his thinking, or my subsequent frustrations at it, as Coach Kataoka suddenly stopped before turning around. Signaling that he thought we'd gone far enough into the outfield that we would be safe from any fly balls hit by the batters from the plate.

"All of want to be, or are, either pitchers or catchers correct?" Coach Kataoka asked in a silent voice that was masked by a very firm tone that made me realize something.

'This is the first time I've clearly heard him speak'

"Yeah" was the answer which came from Abe, making him the first person to break the silence which had fallen over the five of us; thus preventing him from being subjected to the intensity of Coach Kataoka's glare.

"Y-ye-yes" Mihashi squeaked out followed by a distinct answer from Sawamura and Hinata.

"Yoshi!"

"Right!"

"Yes" I simply stated, earning me a noticeable look from Coach Kataoka as I did so; before turning towards Abe.

"You're the starter right?" he asked, earning a nod from Abe before turning to Mihashi and Sawamura

"And you two want to be starters right?

"Y-y-ye-" Mihashi began, only to be interrupted by a Sawamura shouting.

"Yoshi!"

"Then you three will be a group, with the two of you alternating between pitching until I choose one of you" Coach Kataoka began, before turning towards Hinata and I and adding.

"I want you two to practice together so that Hinata gets some experience in the catcher's gear, understand?"

"Yes Coach!" was the unanimous shout which came from the five us before we eagerly went about getting into our two groups, with Hinata and I seamlessly moving towards the farther end of the field while Sawamura and Mihashi did rock paper scissors to see who got to throw to Abe first.

"So what can you throw?" Hinata asked, his gaze being primarily focused on the task of adjusting the catcher's mask so that it better covered his face; allowing him to be more audible.

"Something I bet you can't catch" I muttered under my breath as I picked up one of the baseballs that Coach Kataoka had brought with him.

"What?" Hinata called as I rubbed the ball against my thigh, before properly looking at it.

"I've got something that will be difficult for you to catch" I repeated, slightly sanitizing my original statement as I tossed the ball up before swiping it out of the air with my glove. Unsurprisingly earning me an odd look from Hinata before I proceeded to take 60 steps away from the young man, alternating between stretching me shoulders and arms as I did so. Taking my last step I proceeded to step towards Hinata and do a moderately hard throw, the ball sailing on a direct line before curving upwards slightly and landing in the still standing boy's mitt.

"That wasn't so hard" he boasted as he returned the ball to me, prompting me to raise my eyebrow.

'That wasn't the pitch' I thought, before stepping and performing another practice throw. An act that I repeated three more times afterwards to get the intended motion that I wanted to use memorized.

"Alright you can hit your squat" I shouted earning me a nod from Hinata before he lowered his catcher's mask and proceeded to squat down in a modified catcher's squat. A weird position that saw him lowered at a slight angle, with his knees pointed inwards, while leaning towards his right.

"Alright, I'm gonna start as nice and easy as I can, you ready?" I called, a question that earned me an emphatic nod from Hinata's smaller form before he extended both of his arms out.

'Alright' I nodded, pulling my hands to my chest and slowly raising my left leg.

'Haven't thrown this pitch in a while'

'Just keep it down' I calmly added before stepping forwards and bringing my right arm back.

'And it should at least make it to him' was all I could finish with as I brought my hand forwards, releasing the ball so that it it came out of my hand and arced towards the plate in an almost pitifully casual manner. Rising high into the air, causing Hinata to almost instinctually rise from his squatting position, only for the ball to be a gradual descent; leaving the poor orangette little warning before it dropped dramatically. Its lack of spin causing most of its speeds and momentum to die, making the ball almost plummet back to earth in a cartoon like manner, and drop right in front of where Hinata had been squatting before rolling through his legs.

The whole thing occuring so quickly that the poor orangette could do nothing but stare at the ball as it rolled away from him as he raised mask of his catcher's helmet.

"What was that?" Hinata asked, his gaze now squarely focused on the ball.

"That...was a knuckleball" I answered, stretching out my shoulder as I did so, having heard several slight pops as I performed the throw that I had not done in several months. An anxiety that I had not previously known was in my stomach starting to slowly grow in size as my answer was initially met with silence from the orangette; something which, in spite of short time being inquinated, I knew was not normal for him given his outspoken nature.

"That...was...s **o...COOOL!** " Was the shout that broke the silence that had fallen between us, a shout of enthusiasm so loud that I was slightly taken aback by it.

'Well that's-' I began, only to be cut off in my thoughts by the tiny boy running, grabbing the ball, and sprinting up to me. A series of actions that, despite the fact the I clearly saw each one of them, caused me to take a step backwards.

"Do it again!" Hinata almost ordered, before shoving the ball into my glove, and sprinting back to his previous place.

'-...unexpected'

"Come Yamato, we don't have all practice, come on!" Hinata shouted, waving his arms wildly as he did so.

'But not unappreciated'

"Alright, here I go" I replied, before setting and delivering another pitch his way.

* * *

A few hours, and several dozen pitches, later Hinata and I found ourselves changing in the small "club room"; my hands and shoulder fully loosened, while faint bruise marks covered the whole of Hinata's tiny body. What was originally supposed to be a short affair that was, at most, an hour long had ended up taking the rest of the practice as Hinata had seemingly dedicated himself to at least understanding the movement of the pitch, and had seemingly begun to understand the faintest parts of its movements towards the end. A skill which had earned him the unceremonious rewards of several pitches going directly into his chest, a couple bouncing off of the part of his mitt that covered his thumb, and several coming in and bouncing off of the part of his thighs not covered by the catcher's gear.

"Sorry about all that" I stated while watching the tiny orangette gingerly button up his his school uniform; my mind wondering how many more bruises would be added to his current tally before he knew how to catch my knuckleball.

"It's fine," Hinata answered, the confidence of his reply prompting him to do the last button on his shirt before placing his bag over his shoulder in a manner which prompted him to wince slightly.

'Does he think I can't see?'

"But I would've gotten by the end of practice if Coach Kataoka wasn't such a stickler" he added, crossing his arms and pouting. While Hinata was right, in that Coach Kataoka had been the one to interrupt my called for barrage of knuckle balls, it was less because he was a stickler for time and I think more because he had pressing questions.

_"Is that all you can throw?" the mustachioed man had asked after the umpteenth time I had tossed Hinata the knuckleball._

_"No, not really" I'd timidly answered, while receiving Hinata's throw back._

_"When I was in Middle School I tried to learn a two seam fastball and a changeup, but we didn't have a coach so that didn't go so well" I added, earning me a raised eyebrow from Coach Kataoka._

_"Let me see the" he stated, an order that I swiftly obeyed by throwing what was most likely the ugliest changeup and least skilled cutter in the man's life, earning me only silence._

_'See, I told you they weren't-'_

_"Again" Coach Kataoka ordered, causing me to snap my head towards him in surprise. Only for my action to be met by an stern, unflinching glare which prompted me to throw the two pitches in quick succession._

_"Again"_

_"Again"_

_"Again"_

_That single word had punctuated the next quarter of an hour as instead of repeating the knuckleball that Hinata so desperately wanted to practice with, I instead found myself going through the motions of the cutter and changeup. His voice not changing in tone, canter, or its point of emphasis as I alternated between the two with small periods of rest until the five of us were called back by Coach Momoe to do infield practice._

"Plus, he didn't even say why he wanted you to keep throwing those two pitches" Hinata added, shaking his non-dominant hand as he did so.

"It was probably so that he could get a better look at them" I replied, grabbing my school bag as I did so before adding.

"Don't worry, you won't have to catch them long" a statement which earned me a look from Hinata, that prompted me to clarify.

"Because once Coach Kataoka realizes that I can't throw them I'll be back in the in field"

"You seem pretty confident in your own demise" a voice neutrally stated, causing me to spin around and find myself face to face with Kageyama.

"Oh, I didn't see you there" were the words which instinctively slid out of my mouth at the sight of the almost eternally straight faced boy.

"If Coach Kataoka is as good as Coach Momoe says, and your pitches are as bad as you say, then he would've sent you to away before in field practice" Kageyama added, his gaze not having altered in its composition or shifted in its nature, causing his eyes to seemingly stare into my soul.

"Maybe you should try out as a pitcher then" I countered, raising my bag to place it over my shoulder, before adding.

"If you know him so well, then you'll know how to stay in his graces long enough to make the rotation" in a tone that sounded harsher than I intended, earning me a darkened look from the young man before he turned and left leaving Hinata and I.

'Think I'm going to regret that'

"He's rather weird isn't he" Hinata stated, breaking the gentle silence that had fallen over the two of us.

'That he is my orange haired friend, that he is' were the thoughts that came to mind before the two of us departed from the room.


	6. New Problems and New Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone,
> 
> Sorry for the month long hiatus. Things got really crazy with my final exams at school, moving back home, and dealing with all these disruptions from COVID-19. But I'm back and I hope to updating once a month up until February when I go back to school, so sit back and enjoy. Also Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas everyone.

If I had any concerns that my response had offended Kageyama in anyway it was more then clear by the midway point of the following practice, as despite having run into each other multiple times throughout the day he had seemingly refused to talk to me. It actually wasn't until the mid-practice water break that I was able to corner him with a sliver of privacy, when I encountered him by one of the school's outdoor faucets.

"If you were miffed in anyway by what I said yesterday, I'm sorry" I began as I neared Kageyama's bent feature as he was taking care to splash his face with the icy cold water from the faucet. My omission earning me no initial reaction as they seemingly emotionless boy simply proceeded to continue his splashing his face, and then his hair, with water, before rising from his kneeling position and only then facing me.

"It wasn't because you were wrong, that I was left" he simply answered, wiping the brow of his forehead with his hat while I raised an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to me-" I began, only for him to cut me off by finishing with.

"It's because you were partially right" taking me aback as I quickly made the connection based on the hints in Kageyama's answer.

"You mean you were a pitcher?" I asked, my question not earning me a nod or any real sign of confirmation; only the act of Kageyama looking down towards the faucet he'd just been cooling himself with.

"Then why didn't you volunteer when Coach Momoe called for pitchers?" I asked, my question this soliciting a mild shrug from Kageyama that caused me to instinctively add.

"Even if you only had two pitches you'd be way better then me, especially if you'd practiced under an actual coach any time in the last two-" only for my prying and partial pleading to be cut off my Kageyama raising his hand while shaking his head.

"You don't understand," being the quiet admission that came from his lips as his gaze went towards the ground, exposing the straight, black hair on his head to me.

"It's not that I think I'm unworthy of being a pitcher, it's that I just don't want to" the finality that came from his statement causing all other statements of dissent that I'd planned to utilize to almost instantly die upon my lips, leaving a silence between the two of us. As though he expected me to not take his statement, his final decision, as final in anyway; as though he expected me to begin to poke and pry at his decision until I could worm my way into his head to change his decision.

'Well, luckily for you I'm not that type of person'.

"Alright, then" I stated, earning me an upwards glance from Kageyama.

"I guess I can except that," I continued as I found myself falling into the pull power of Kageyama's attention; the intensity from his glare seeming to almost be identical to that of Coach Kataoka.

"But if you think you can give me any pointers then please, by all means, do so; we can't win unless we think as a team" I finished, earning me a smile and nod from Kageyama. Well not really a smile on his face, or even from his emotional aura, more so a smile that seemed to come from the deepest parts of his pupils. His eyes seemingly lighting up with a sense of relief that he dared not, or just didn't care to, show on his actual face, but could easily be seen in his body language.

"Thank you," being the only response that he gave before putting his cap back on and walking away, leaving only one thought in my mind.

'So weird'. Before I too took a few sips of water and then returned back to practice.

* * *

If Kageyama still had any ill, or at least slightly tainted, will left towards me he was either really good at hiding it or at least very good at hiding it from me. As due to our position in the drill rotation I wasn't able to really think about, or interact with, him as my mind was more on finding a way to properly field the throws that were coming towards me at first base.

'I Swear, if I have to deal with one more wild throw...' I began, the thought causing me to look down at the numerous dust spots the covered my legs; my mind so more specifically being on the numerous bruises that lay under each one of them.

'I would at least want it to be above the waist'.

"Alright, listen up" was Abe's call that moved me from my thoughts, to look up and see him standing next to Homeplate; with Hinata standing over it in his catcher's gear.

"Bases Loaded, one out, turn two" being the only warning he added before handing a ball to Coach Momoe, my ears then hearing the distinct crack of the fungo bat on her shoulder. Had this been a normal type of fielding situation, specifically one without Hinata being involved, the current player on the mound, Sawamura, might have had to duck out of the way; or most likely wouldn't have been on the field in the first place. So, given the fact they were both on the field, it was of little surprise that the ball that came off Coach Momoe's bat went straight towards the left-handed pitcher. The young man's instinctive response, being to step into the path of the ball to field the one hop, rather then try to knock the ball down with his glove while getting out of the way.

'Always were a mad man' I thought as I watched him flip the ball to Hinata before I stepped in the direction of home plate in preparation to field the ball, lowering myself at the sight of the low arc the ball was taking. While I expected the ball to hit the ground before it reached me, that was an absolute given with the arc that the ball was taking, what I didn't expect was how far short the ball was going to end up. With the ball landing in the middle no mans land where it had the momentum to reach me but not going far enough to make an each shoestring catch for me, unfortunately that meant that the ball bounced high off the ground and past my glove before hitting me in the chest.

The soft thump of the ball hitting my chest soliciting a slight wince from me as I raised my glove to chest to prevent the ball from going away. Pretending that I couldn't see the wince of Haruichi as he ran behind me from his second base position as I raised my glove to indicate my possession of the ball before throwing the ball back to home plate.

"Nice catch!" came the shout Sawamura on the mound, the only response I could give being to look at him while shaking our my left arm and spinning my right arm around in a circular motion. Doing all that I could to avoid thinking about the faint bruise that had formed, or was in the midst of forming, on my chest; my throwing arm being a price I was willing to pay to do that, my focus being solely placed on my arm until I heard a faint voice ask from behind.

"Are you okay?" to which I turned to my right and catching sight of Haruichi.

"Yeah," I practically grunted out as I slowly walked away from the first base bag before adding.

"No more beaten up than usual" in the most joking manner that I could summon, my joke unfortunately not causing any relief to cross Haruichi's face.

"Look, Kominato, if getting bruises bothered me would I look like this?" I asked, following the question with a gesture that highlighted the tanned nature of my skin, a reminder that earned me a hearty blush from Haruichi, before he began to look back and forth in a panicked manner.

'Golly, it's like this kid's got no confidence' were the only thoughts that could cross my mind as I watched the display.

'That even worked on Sawamura'.

"Hey" I called, causing the young man to stop panicking and focus his attention back onto me before I added.

"Forget it" throwing an arm around his shoulder, having now reached where the young pink haired boy was standing; an act the made a distinct point of revealing the difference in height between the two of us.

"Besides, first base is like being a catcher without all of the gear" I added offhandedly, earning me a look from him.

"Think about it, you've got to be big, able to block the ball, and able to adjust" I continued, counting each point on my finger as I did so before adding.

"It's kind of like how second base is the shortstop but on the right side, after all just because it's less flashy doesn't mean it's less important". The only indication that I received of Haruichi's agreement to my statement was the fact that out of the corner of my eye I saw him lower his head and raise his glove, as if to hide his reaction. The thing which did catch my eye, however, was the sight of a girl standing by the back stop of the small field; a sheepish expression on her face and a white piece of paper in her hand.

'Hello'

"Hey, next situation!" a voice shouted, yanking both Haruichi and my attentions back towards home plate just as Coach Momoe reached back. Silently calling for another ball, this time from Hinata rather than from Abe; with the two have swapped positions; her call prompting the two of us to jog back towards our our positions of origin. However, a single thought still languished on my mind as I reached first base.

'I wonder who she is'

* * *

A few hours later the whole group found themselves sitting next to the field's dugouts, the combination of afternoon heat and flies preventing anyone from resting within the confines of the actual dugout.

"How can it be so hot? It's only mid-spring?" one of the boys to my right, Sakaeguchi I think, asked before pressing his water bottle to his mouth.

"It wouldn't be so bad if Coach wasn't working us so hard?" Hanai added, causing a smile to come over my face before a weak chuckle left my mouth; earning me a disparaging look from the boy.

"What's so funny?" he asked, towards which I could only give a weak wave of my arm.

"I just wonder; if Coach Kataoka said that his practices at Seidou was akin to something from Hades, and we're getting a gradual introduction into his training style, how hard will it be when we finally reach the intensity that he wants" I mused, a question that earned me a shiver from not only Hanai and Sakaeguchi, but several other teammates who'd overheard my question. The only person, in my line of sight, who didn't seemed to be Abe, who continued to stare off towards the other side of the field; where Coach Kataoka and Coach Momoe were standing and conversing amongst themselves.

"If it gets us to Koshien, who cares how hard it is" Abe stated, breaking the silence that had fallen over all eleven of us; but not overwhelming the pregnant pause which seemed to follow.

"What? Are do you guys not want to get there?" he added, his tone slowly beginning to take on a combative tone.

"I don't think it's that no one wants to get there, I think it's more that we're not going to get going this year" I answered, seeming to be the only one daring to offer a reply; before thinking.

'There's also the fact that one of us might not know exactly what Koshien is' specifically in terms of Hinata.

"Still, you can't seriously not be interested in at least trying" Abe countered, a point which I don't think any same individual would dare to dispute.

"Anyway, I'm going to get a refill" I muttered, rising from my seat and walking off towards the general school building, my water bottle in my hand. My attention falling on the backstop area as I did so allowing me to once again get a look at an orange haired girl, dressed in a female Karasuno high school uniform, standing next to the backstop. However, this time I was able to see that there was something in her hands, causing one thought to go through my mind.

'She's the girl from before' seconds before I raised my free hand and let out a call of.

"Hello" my friendly call prompting her to straighten up as though a shock of electricity had gone up her spine before suddenly turning towards me, a look of uncertainty on her face.

"H-he-hello" being her reply.

"Do you need some help?" I asked, my answer earning me a response of her emphatically nodding.

"Y-yes, do you know where your coach is?".

"Oh Coach Momoe? She's over there" I answered, turning and pointing off towards the way I'd come, making sure to add the point of.

"Be careful in the dugout though, there's many mosquitos there".

"Thank you" the girl responded, bowing before stating again.

"Thank you" an running off in the direction of the direction I'd pointed, unaware of the fact I'd brought another individual into contact with our small rag tag team.


End file.
